Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $80,160
- Median hourly wage: $38.54
- Total employment: 70 people (0.9 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Hilton Head Island
Despite recession fears and falling consumer confidence, the job market in the United States has remained relatively stable in 2025 thus far. According to May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, around 177,000 new jobs were added in April, a slight decrease from the 185,000 new jobs added in the month before, but an extension of the country's 52-month streak of job growth. Unemployment rates also held relatively steady between April 2024 and April 2025, coming in at around 4%.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean Americans have it easy in the workplace. A December 2024 Payscale report found that nearly half (47%) of business organizations struggle to balance fair pay practices with spend optimization, and 18% plan to reduce pay increases in 2025 as a result.
For context, median weekly earnings across all employees in the U.S. stood at $1,194 in the first quarter of 2025. This represents an increase of 4.8% from a year prior and exceeds the Consumer Price Index's 2.7% increase in the same time period. However, there's one caveat: Earnings go much further in some places than in others.
In fact, the very definition of a "high-paying" job varies by location, as well as other factors such as industry and benefits. Even a six-figure salary may be considered low-income in places with an unusually high cost of living. Meanwhile, technology, finance, and health care jobs lead in terms of salary, but benefits like remote work can make other lower-paying jobs more desirable.
Regardless, anyone seeking a high-paying job should start by looking at the numbers. Stacker used BLS data to find the 50 highest-paying jobs in Hilton Head Island. Jobs are ranked by their median annual pay as of May 2024, so any jobs without annual compensation figures available were excluded from this analysis.
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g-stockstudio // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers
- Median annual wage: $80,820
- Median hourly wage: $38.86
- Total employment: 80 people (0.99 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
NDAB Creativity // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Massage therapists
- Median annual wage: $81,630
- Median hourly wage: $39.25
- Total employment: 110 people (1.36 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $82,280
- Median hourly wage: $39.56
- Total employment: 210 people (2.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Luisa Leal Photography // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
- Median annual wage: $83,150
- Median hourly wage: $39.98
- Total employment: 50 people (0.57 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Unai Huizi Photography // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Dental hygienists
- Median annual wage: $85,400
- Median hourly wage: $41.06
- Total employment: 150 people (1.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $86,490
- Median hourly wage: $41.58
- Total employment: 380 people (4.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Dmytro Zinkevych // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Social and community service managers
- Median annual wage: $86,500
- Median hourly wage: $41.59
- Total employment: 60 people (0.73 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Motortion Films // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling
- Median annual wage: $87,260
- Median hourly wage: $41.95
- Total employment: 50 people (0.59 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $88,400
- Median hourly wage: $42.50
- Total employment: 130 people (1.56 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $91,230
- Median hourly wage: $43.86
- Total employment: 1,640 people (20.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $91,550
- Median hourly wage: $44.02
- Total employment: 90 people (1.13 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aleksandar Karanov // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Occupational health and safety specialists
- Median annual wage: $91,890
- Median hourly wage: $44.18
- Total employment: 40 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $92,190
- Median hourly wage: $44.32
- Total employment: 50 people (0.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Undrey // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Financial and investment analysts
- Median annual wage: $92,600
- Median hourly wage: $44.52
- Total employment: 110 people (1.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Tyler Olson // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers
- Median annual wage: $92,750
- Median hourly wage: $44.59
- Total employment: 80 people (0.94 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Chaay_Tee // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $92,870
- Median hourly wage: $44.65
- Total employment: Not available
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $93,950
- Median hourly wage: $45.17
- Total employment: 80 people (0.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $94,350
- Median hourly wage: $45.36
- Total employment: 140 people (1.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $94,800
- Median hourly wage: $45.58
- Total employment: 250 people (3.06 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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ABO PHOTOGRAPHY // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Occupational therapists
- Median annual wage: $95,820
- Median hourly wage: $46.07
- Total employment: 70 people (0.86 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $95,950
- Median hourly wage: $46.13
- Total employment: 100 people (1.24 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $96,150
- Median hourly wage: $46.23
- Total employment: 30 people (0.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $96,190
- Median hourly wage: $46.24
- Total employment: 290 people (3.57 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $96,700
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 200 people (2.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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ABO PHOTOGRAPHY / Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Speech-language pathologists
- Median annual wage: $97,370
- Median hourly wage: $46.81
- Total employment: 80 people (1.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $99,820
- Median hourly wage: $47.99
- Total employment: 70 people (0.91 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stock Rocket // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Median annual wage: $100,170
- Median hourly wage: $48.16
- Total employment: 50 people (0.6 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $100,440
- Median hourly wage: $48.29
- Total employment: 50 people (0.61 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $100,580
- Median hourly wage: $48.35
- Total employment: 320 people (3.93 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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industryviews // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Career/technical education teachers, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $102,380
- Median hourly wage: $49.22
- Total employment: 110 people (1.4 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $104,820
- Median hourly wage: $50.40
- Total employment: 60 people (0.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $108,110
- Median hourly wage: $51.97
- Total employment: 50 people (0.64 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $113,520
- Median hourly wage: $54.58
- Total employment: 80 people (0.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Zivica Kerkez // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Veterinarians
- Median annual wage: $115,660
- Median hourly wage: $55.61
- Total employment: 70 people (0.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $116,500
- Median hourly wage: $56.01
- Total employment: 220 people (2.66 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $117,960
- Median hourly wage: $56.71
- Total employment: 240 people (2.91 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Median annual wage: $118,190
- Median hourly wage: $56.82
- Total employment: 40 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stokkete // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $122,410
- Median hourly wage: $58.85
- Total employment: 70 people (0.82 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Computer systems analysts
- Median annual wage: $122,570
- Median hourly wage: $58.93
- Total employment: 160 people (1.95 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $124,190
- Median hourly wage: $59.71
- Total employment: 280 people (3.37 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $125,460
- Median hourly wage: $60.32
- Total employment: 280 people (3.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kzenon // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Optometrists
- Median annual wage: $129,010
- Median hourly wage: $62.02
- Total employment: Not available
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $130,880
- Median hourly wage: $62.92
- Total employment: 40 people (0.49 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $133,010
- Median hourly wage: $63.95
- Total employment: 60 people (0.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $134,000
- Median hourly wage: $64.42
- Total employment: 240 people (2.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $161,220
- Median hourly wage: $77.51
- Total employment: 90 people (1.06 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $166,300
- Median hourly wage: $79.95
- Total employment: 100 people (1.28 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A // Shutterstock
49 / 50#1. Family medicine physicians (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 60 people (0.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Physicians, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 140 people (1.75 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
This story features data reporting by Wade Zhou, writing by Cu Fleshman, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 364 metros.
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